While reading in Holiday
about Martha and Reza, it really showed how images of culture that we see
through the media can be very wrong. Martha was surprised to hear that Reza was
a judge and that his sister was successful as well. She was also mistaken by assuming that there
were no good hospitals back in Kabul for Reza to get medical help for his
finger. This section explained how the
media can really skew images of people and culture. Holliday states that a
major source of Martha’s prejudging of Reza and Afghanistan came from images
that have been portrayed through the media. I actually found it interesting,
when reading in Holliday, that many Arabs are not Muslim and many do not wear
the hejab. That is probably a misconception that I have due to the image they
give off in the media. This reminded me of the documentary that we watched
about the Middle East called “Orientalism”. The director, Edward Said talked
about the Middle East is seen as dangerous, mysterious, and violent and how
those images are not accurate. He refers to “orientalism” as the lens in which
Middle Easterners are viewed. The problem with this lens is that it allows for
all Middle East people to be viewed as the same. That is probably why I just
assumed that all Middle Eastern people were Muslim and all the women wore
hejabs. This lens is probably why Martha had prejudices about Reza before she
ever really met him. The media does such a good job of portraying and reinforcing
the portrayal of Middle East people as being a certain way and it’s hard to not
form beliefs based on what we see. Even
when we watch a movie as harmless as Aladdin we can see the media stereotypes
of the Middle East. There is magic, mystery, betrayal and violence. Those are
all stereotypes of the Middle East that the media has created. Of course, the
media doesn’t just portray the Middle East a certain way, the media effects
almost all cultures. We have talked in class about stereotypes that people have
about Americans that aren’t necessarily true. These stereotypes are probably
formed through media such as movies portrayed about the American culture. While
reading Holliday, I also found the concept of “New Racism” to be very
interesting. I do agree that racism now is different than two hundred years ago
and that racism still does exist. The
new view on racism represents a different type of culture, different types of
people with a different type of lifestyle. This racism of course is
stereotypical and not true of all people that are discriminated against with
this “New Racism”. Holliday expresses that “New Racism” is discursive in that
it is talked about and confirmed through everyday talk, movies, articles, etc.
It seems so normal, but to many people these views can be hurtful. The media makes
these stereotypes seem natural and normal, but that again is just the media
portraying culture in a certain way that is not necessarily true. Sure, some
stereotypes may be true for some people, but it’s important to understand that
they are not true for all. You can’t lump all people of a culture into one
large sum. One size does not fit all. Not two people are completely the same
and share the exact same thoughts and beliefs.
